Sometimes the creative process in advertising comes full circle. I just viewed a cool new TV spot for the Acura RDX called “Wall Art”, where the team used stop-frame animation to mimic street art in an inventive new way.  And somehow it left me asking myself where I had seen something like it before.

For some reason, the ad reminds me of a less colorful version of the classic Beatles film “Yellow Submarine”.  The film was a breakthrough for its generation, taking Paul, John, George and Ringo into the world of psychedelic animation (and some of the best songs of their careers, but that’s another story). Yet, after watching this video tracing the making of the spot, I realize the modern take on this process makes use of more sophisticated technologies and artists, with a lot more depth and dimension.

According to a press release from the artists behind the new spot:

“Wall Art opens with an RDX parked in front of a blank wall.  This same wall is painted and repainted with cityscape, hundreds and hundreds of times, to animate the background behind the vehicle.  The 10-day shoot for Wall Art used more than 450 gallons of paint and 500 cans of spray paint, resulting in more than 400 layers of paint on the wall.”

Pretty cool technique.  And you can’t say that very often about a car ad.

To learn more about the ad, click here for details.